Love is Not an Orange
country, year
Belgium, Moldova, Netherlands, France, 2024
genre
documentary
running time
73’
directed by
Otilia Babara
languages
Romanian
subtitles
English and Slovenian
about the film
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldovan women began to go to work in Western Europe, leaving their children in the care of relatives. While mothers sent home money and various goods, children answered via a new way of communicating: images and messages recorded on video cassettes for their mothers. These amateur recordings are the material of this film. They testify to the painful gaps the absent persons left in the lives of those who stayed behind.
about the author
Otilia Babara is a documentary filmmaker from Moldova currently based in Brussels. She holds a degree in documentary filmmaking from the Docnomads European Master program (Belgium, Hungary, Portugal) and is a 2013 Berlinale Talents fellow. She directed and produced the short films Irene (2015), selected for several international film festivals, and Women on Canvas (2009), awarded in Astra Film Festival and Cronograf Film Festival. She is drawn to those who usually go unnoticed. Her films expose big wounds hidden in small details and she’s fascinated by untold stories of women.
filmography:
- 2024 – Love is Not an Orange
- 2015 – Irene
- 2009 – Women on Canvas
